The Illinois state comptroller took the extraordinary step of withholding some funds from the troubled village of Dolton on Thursday, blaming scandal-scarred Tiffany Henyard for the first-of-its-kind action — as the self-proclaimed “Super Mayor” told cops to follow orders from her disgraced department ally who was placed on leave before being indicted.

State Comptroller Susana Mendoza said she would immediately suspend all “offset” monies typically doled out to municipalities because Dolton leader Henyard “refuses” to turn over financial reports to the state.

The village was on track to gain $135,000 this year — but instead could start facing fines if the problems drag on. If the issues are fixed, the comptroller will restart the payments.

Mendoza said while her office tries to assist municipalities that struggle to file required annual reports, “Dolton is different.”

“The Mayor’s office has refused to communicate with us or address the problem,” she said in a statement. “If Mayor Henyard refuses to follow state law, my office will use the tools at our disposal to safeguard the interests of Dolton’s citizens.”

The village did not send reports to the comptroller’s office in 2022 and 2023, the comptroller said.

The state collects the “offset” funds when it withholds part of a resident’s income tax return or lotto winnings if they don’t pay a parking or speeding ticket at the local level, according to a comptroller spokesperson.

Those funds are then distributed back to the municipality, according to the office.

The state agency made clear it would not give Dolton — which is already facing financial hardship — the money until it gets into compliance with its financial records.

But the village could face fines totaling $78,600 over the delinquent paperwork if municipal officials don’t release the records, the comptroller’s office said.

Henyard, who was elected in 2021, has faced mounting allegations of maleficence in office, including misuse of taxpayer funds. Federal investigators reportedly subpoenaed financial information and documents tied to her and the village earlier this year as part of a probe.

‘Silly games’

Henyard’s ally in the police department, Deputy Chief Lewis Lacey, was federally indicted on bankruptcy fraud and other charges on Monday, though the criminal case is not connected to the village.

He was placed on administrative leave last week by trustees opposed to Henyard before the indictment, but a lawyer for the trustees reportedly said he’s still going to work.

The confusion over his job status persisted into this week.

Henyard ordered police officers to continue following orders from Lacey on Thursday, according to video obtained by WGN.

“Stop playing these silly games,” Henyard is heard saying.

Lacey also issued a warning that cops better fall in line, according to the station.

“Do what you want; but anything after this is insubordination,” he said.

But Village Administrator Keith Freeman told officers in an email Lacey was no longer employed by the village.

“Mr. Lacey is not allowed in any spaces reserved for employees with an escort,” he said, according to WGN.

Just last week, former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot revealed the village’s coffers were in shambles under Henyard leadership while outlining high spending, including $43,000 in one day on Amazon.

The pulled funds come as a local CBS report claims Henyard is nowhere to be found this week, but a trustee told The Post Thursday that wasn’t the case.

“She is not MIA, I think [the] news has been stating that. She is on social media and was at a meeting today, but has little comments about [the] report,” trustee Kiana Belcher said in reference to the Lightfoot report.

The comptroller’s office also cited an undated email from a Dolton village clerk that claims Freeman doesn’t allow department heads to relay information to the clerk’s office when the public seeks records and documents from the village.

Freeman was federally charged earlier this year with bankruptcy fraud that also is not tied to village business. While Henyard said this month he was fired, trustees opposed to her have said she doesn’t have the sole power to make that personnel move.

Freeman used to be an ally of Henyard before the two had a falling out, WGN reported.

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. (CBS) –An era has come to an end in northwest suburban Hoffman Estates, as crews on Thursday were working to tear down the old Sears, Roebuck and Co. corporate headquarters.

CBS News Skywatch flew the scene as crews began ripping apart the 2.4 million square-foot office building.

The property at 3333 Beverly Rd. in Hoffman Estates was acquired by Compass Datacenters in September of last year, and a new data center will be built on the site.

Sears first moved into the headquarters in 1992, after receiving a series of incentives—reportedly valued at $240 million—to lure the company to the sprawling suburban office park from its old corporate headquarters at the Sears Tower, now called the Willis Tower.

Sears filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2018, and the company formed to purchase its assets, Transformco, put the Hoffman Estates headquarters up for sale three years later.

Sears: A history intertwined with the history of Chicago

The roots of Sears, Roebuck and Co. date back to the 1880s in Chicago—when watch retailer Richard W. Sears and watch repairman Alvah C. Roebuck founded a mail-order company. Initially selling watches and jewelry, the Sears catalog quickly became an Amazon for the turn of the last century—selling, among many other things clothing, bicycles, sewing machines, sporting goods, musical instruments, and guns, the Sears archives website noted.

In 1895, clothing manufacturer Julius Rosenwald became a partner in Sears. Rosenwald is credited with bringing in the business strategies that sent Sears booming—with sales jumping from $750,000 to $50 million between 1895 and 1907, the Sears archive notes.

Rosenwald was also known for placing his focus on the customer, with the pledge of “satisfaction guaranteed, or your money back,” the Sears archive notes. He is also known for founding Chicago’s Griffin Museum of Science and Industry, and for his philanthropic efforts—notably including the establishment of thousands of schools for rural Black youth in the South.

Sears’ first retail store opened in 1925, under the leadership of Gen. Robert E. Wood, Brittanica notes. This store was at the Sears Merchandise Building at the company headquarters near Homan Avenue and Arthington Street on Chicago’s West Side.

Three more stores opened in Chicago 1928—at Lawrence and Wolcott avenues in Ravenswood, at 79th Street and Kenwood Avenue in Avalon Park, and at 62nd Street and Western Avenue in Chicago Lawn.

All these stores remained in business until relatively recent years. The Western Avenue and 79th Street stores both closed in 2013—the 79th Street store is now a self-storage facility, while the Western Avenue store was torn down in 2020. The Lawrence Avenue store closed in 2016 and has been redeveloped into apartments and a DeVry University campus.

Stores also quickly opened elsewhere around the country—and retail sales had outpaced mail-order sales by 1931, Brittanica noted. Sears benefited tremendously from an economic boom after World War II, and was not surpassed as the nation’s largest retailer until future parent store Kmart dethroned it in the 1980s, and Walmart later dethroned both, Brittanica noted.

In 1973, Sears moved into Chicago’s Sears Tower—which opened as the tallest building in the world. Nearly two decades later, Sears was offered the largest tax break ever for a company in Illinois to move to Hoffman Estates—a move that a 2020 Daily Herald and ProPublica review said did not pay off for the northwest suburban village as hoped.

Sears and Kmart merged in 2004. Published reports note that Sears hit a peak stock price of $195.18 a share in 2007, but then fell into decline—with the company no longer being profitable by 2010. Store after store closed around the country—with 1,250 locations left by the summer of 2017, compared with 3,400 at the beginning of 2006.

The last Illinois Sears store, at Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg, closed in November 2021. There are now only 11 Sears stores left. 

Coleman Hawkins has repeatedly expressed he has no bad feelings toward the Illinois basketball program or fans.

Even though he transferred to Kansas State this offseason, Hawkins will always hold a special place in his heart for the Illini. He spoke of it during a recent appearance on the Sleepers podcast.

“I like the fact that I stayed at Illinois for four years,” Hawkins said. “People can hate and be like there’s no loyalty. But like, bro, I graduated from the school. I graduated from Illinois. I’m still going to be ride-or-die Illinois.” 

Hawkins entertained the idea of entering the NBA draft after completing his senior season at Illinois. After withdrawing, he became one of the most highly-coveted players in the transfer portal. He was eligible for an extra year because of the NCAA’s Covid-19 waiver.

While returning for to play another year with the Illini was never an option, he said it was just time to move on. Regardless, Hawkins was one of the most loved players in program history. Last year he helped the Illini reach the Elite Eight.

“At the end of the day, it was a business decision,” Hawkins said. “If I was a college coach, I bet you no one would be [criticizing him]. College coaches do it all the time. It just came to a point where I kind of outgrew it.” 

Shandel Richardson is the publisher of Illinois Fighting Illini On SI. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com

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